New Delhi: After its earlier warnings met with deaf ears, the Supreme Court of India Friday August 11, 2023 toughened its stand on hate speeches and asked the Narendra Modi government in New Delhi to work on forming a committee to look into the matter rampant across the country.
"There has to be some harmony and comity between the communities and all the communities are responsible. I do not know if this has been exaggerated but the problem of hate speech is not good and nobody can accept it", a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti said.
The Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by journalist Shaheen Abdullah over “blatant hate speeches" calling for killing members of the Muslim community, and for their social and economic boycott at rallies in different states, including Haryana.
The SC bench also asked Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj, appearing for the Centre, to seek instructions and inform it about the proposed committee by August 18, 2023.
The apex court also directed the petitioner to collate all material, including videos, and submit to the nodal officers appointed in each state in pursuance of its October 21, 2022 judgement.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Nataraj acknowledged the mechanism to tackle hate speeches is not working in some places, submitting that the government too is against hate speeches which must be checked in full.
“We also do not support hate speech. The law is settled on what action is to be taken by states in this regard. But somehow, at some places, it is not working”, he said.
The petitioner, Shaheen Abdullah, has referred to a video showing a procession by the Samhast Hindu Samaj which while passing through a neighbourhood in Hisar, Haryana warned the residents and shopkeepers to refrain from employing Muslims, else their shops will be boycotted.
The applicant in his plea alleged that the threat calls against the Muslims were made in the presence of police officers. Commenting on this the apex court said, the police officers must be sensitized on such cases.
“If we find there is violation of law, the question will arise whether there is wilful default by the police so that such events are stopped for the future”, the apex court said.
“At the station house officer level, understanding the nuances of law is difficult. Officers at the higher level will be more sensitised to these issues”, it added.
In April this year, the top court had stressed that the Constitution envisages India as a secular nation, while directing all states and Union Territories to take strict action on hate speech cases, and registering criminal cases irrespective of religion against culprits without waiting for a complaint to be filed.
However, the SC directives have by and large been ignored by the state and central machineries, prompting the apex court to say it was helpless even as more and more hate speech cases were reported from different parts of India.
For all the latest News, Opinions and Views, download ummid.com App.
Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
